One of my pet peeves is when people call fruits vegetables. Tomatoes are not vegetables. Neither are squash, cucumbers, corn, or eggplant. These all belong to the fruit family.
My dictionary defines fruit as "a product of plant growth; esp.: a usu. edible and sweet reproductive body (as a strawberry or apple) of a seed plant."
Vegetable is defined as "A usu. herbaceous plant grown for an edible part that is usu. eaten as part of a meal; also: such an edible part."
This is a weak dictionary.
In short, however, a fruit is the seed bearing product of the plant, and a vegetbale is the root, stalk, leaf or other edible part of the plant. Cereal grains, berries, nuts, etc... are all part of the fruit family.
I'm glad I got that off my chest!
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2 comments:
also, a fruit can be a vegetable, but a vegetable isn't neccesarily a fruit.
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mveggie.html
i've had like conversations.
I'm so confused, now! And a little self-conscious... What about peppers. Seed bearing, yet edible, and not sweet (rather, hot!) Of course, there are sweet peppers. Uh oh...
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